The Santa Clara women's water polo team  dropped two hard fought games on Saturday. The Broncos were downed 12-8 by Cal St. East Bay in Hayward and later in the afternoon the Broncos were edged 6-5 by Cal Baptist at the Sullivan Aquatic Center.

The Broncos (4-8, 3-2 WWPA) had their chances in the opening game against Cal St. East Bay, trailing only 6-5 at the half. Claire Eadington found the back of the net three times while Taylor Harkins and Sarah Safir each tallied goals in the first half. However, the Pioneers jumped on the Broncos early to begin the second half, and the Broncos were never able to get closer than two the rest of the way.

"Cal St. East Bay is a good team and they have a tough pool to play at, so it's not something we are used to," said head coach Keith Wilbur. "We played a pretty good first half, but second half we gave up a lot on the outside. I thought we could of been more aggressive on the perimeter."

Against Cal Baptist, Harkins immediately found the back of the net at 7:23. After Cal Baptist responded late in the first with a counter attack goal, Eadington converted a six on five opportunity with 6:31 to go in the second.  Marina Allen found Caitlin Espe on the post to push the Broncos lead to two.  The teams swapped goals before the break.

Molly Gritchen and Christina Webb registered goals for the Lancers in the third to pull the score level at four. Webb against scored an outside shot at 7:14. After Kovacs second goal of the day, Whitney Allen scored on the inside as the shot clock was expiring to bring the Broncos within one at 1:40. Camryn Rogers blocked Eadington's last second shot, and the Lancers held on for the win.

"We played a great first half being up four two at the half, we just had trouble putting the ball away in the second half," said Wilbur. "Their goalie made some big saves, but we need to find ways to finish. A theme for this team this year is they know they are young, and we are going to have some tough losses. It's tough to swallow, but in the end if we keep a positive attitude we will be able to win those types of close games at the end of the year. "

The Broncos will return to action next weekend as they host Sonoma St. on Friday, Nov. 25 and The Rodeo Tournament Saturday, Nov. 26 and  Sunday, Nov. 27.